As you may have gathered, I have been making various Flow Visualizations this semester at CU Boulder. While I have posted my preliminary selections of favorite photographs for each of my investigations, I wanted to share my top photographs. I started with a soap film investigation (detailed PDF), then continued exploring thin soap films while investigating the the critical fall phenomena (detailed PDF). I then attempted a von Kármán vortex street using a flume (detailed PDF). For my final project I played around with a Schlieren setup, as I have posted previously, and explored density plumes in water (detailed PDF report). Each of the images below have been closely examined to understand some of the physics and fluid phenomena involved (see PDFs). If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Click to see bigger, and I hope you like!

These images were taken for the course Flow Visualization, at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The purpose of the course is to set up an investigation to explore a fluid phenomena, and use imaging techniques such as photography and video to capture the fluid phenomena in a visually pleasing manner. I hope I have made you curious and eager to explore the world of fantasy which lives beside you. For more information on my setup or these phenomenon, see my other posts. And of course, please feel free to ask me and I’ll tell you; or rather, let you know what I have found in my research of flow visualization.

Always spectacular to watch the magical billowing revealed by the schlieren imaging technique. As in the last investigation the images below are of dense cold water descending from an ice cube in room temperature water. While we dont normally see this magical cascade of water within water the schlieren imaging technique allows this ‘invisible’ phenomena to be seen. Schlieren uses a set of mirrors to control the light and make the invisible visible. Differences in water temperature/density cause the light to bend and dissrupt a uniform color gradient, which allows the intricate patterns to be photographed.

This is a followup to the last investigation. This time I used some small circular plates of ice, and some larger ones (you can see one held in the field of view). The field of view is approximately 4″ in diameter for these images.

Click an image in gallery below to open a slider menu, and view the images larger. I Hope you like!

The magic revealed by Schlieren! these images use a set of mirrors to make the invisible visible. Differences in water density cause light to bend and allow the intricate patterns to be photographed. This setup uses a large sheet of ice which creates plumes of less dense cold water that billow downwards.
These are the first picks…and a video!

Click an image in gallery below to open a slider menu, and view the images larger. I Hope you like!

Tuesday rolls along and with it an adventure. I wake up early and pack my bag, make a quick phone call to check the status of my bike repair, then grab a bike and rush not tobe late. I get to the bus stop just a minute before my bus arrives, and then struggle for another minute trying to get the bike on the bike rack. I finally do but at the next stop a man takes forever to find his change and then the bus driver takes a wrong turn and has to do a U-turn on a busy street in Christchurch… that was a sight to behold. I consigned my self to the fact that things were running slow and tried to take in the sights of Christchurch as the bus – slowly – made its way to the east side of Christchurch. I finally get off (a stop later than I asked due to another lapse on the drivers part) and make my way to the bike shop to pick up my Bike. Thank fully they tightened the spokes so now it rides quiet, but they didn’t do to well at keeping the wheel true… oh, and let me assure you that none of these events were really mistakes. Indeed this post has nothing to do with any mistakes, except that my first destination is Taylor’s Mistake. Continue reading →